Southside Elementary offers a showcase spanning educational fields at STEAM Night

By Ian Swaby
| 10:45 a.m. April 20, 2024

Elena Bubnova and her daughter, second-grader Milana Bubnova, help Meily Fernandez perform a science experiment at the table of Sarasota High School's MaST Research Institute.

Sarasota
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Davin Hicks, a first grader who is interested in robotics, and Blake Wilson, a fourth grader who loves nature, both found something to enjoy at Southside STEAM Night on April 18.

“It was really cool, definitely an experience I have never seen,” said their mother Ashlynn Jones.

Held at Southside Elementary School, the event brought together a range of offerings that fall under the umbrella of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics), to showcase the offerings at Sarasota County Schools.

The event's exhibitors included staff from Southside Elementary as well as others such as Sarasota High School’s MaST Research Institute, Brookside Middle School’s Marine Science Academy, UF/IFAS Extension Sarasota County and local businesses.

The event also involved school staff from various disciplines, with offerings including activities such as a station for converting drawings to 3D digital images, and a performance by the jazz band of Southside Elementary.

“This is huge for so many students, and the teachers supported it by drumming it up in their classrooms,” said Amanda Daughtry, the school’s technology teacher.

Fourth Grader Elijah Frederick watches a demonstration by Sub Zero Nitrogen Ice Cream.

Third grader Grace Eichman and first grader Davin Hicks experiment with a VEX robot.

Noah Winter, a first grader, holds a sea urchin from Brookside Middle School.

Coral made by Southside Elementary students is displayed at the event.

Second graders Sophia Rodinov and Adelaide Hardcastle learn about turtles from Doris Anne Prieur of Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium.

Kindergartener JT Lannon and his cousin, Pre-K student Ryan Ching, play with a VEX robot.

First grader Victoria Henshaw meets a crab from Brookside Middle School, held by instructor Katie Hill.

Attendees had the chance to view flowers through a Brock Magiscope.

Second graders Lila Cigich and Valerie Wright control a VEX robot.

Kindergartener André Andreiko experiments with a toy car.

Stephen Geisler talks to his daughter Harper Geisler as she tries on a fire hat from the Sarasota County Fire Department.

author

Ian Swaby

Ian Swaby is the Sarasota neighbors writer for the Observer. Ian is a Florida State University graduate of Editing, Writing, and Media and previously worked in the publishing industry in the Cayman Islands.